Our weekly Level 10 Meeting™ Issues List is constantly clogged with long-term, strategic questions that we cannot possibly resolve in a weekly ninety-minute meeting. How do we keep these lists clean and separate without losing track of important strategic ideas?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a common failure of compartmentalization. Your weekly Issues List is reserved strictly for short-term issues that must be solved this quarter to keep your Rocks and Scorecard on track. Strategic questions, major product ideas, and long-term structural changes belong on your V/TO® Long-Term Issues List.

To keep these lists clean, the facilitator must act as a strict gatekeeper. During the weekly meeting, if an issue is raised that cannot be solved with a concrete, weekly To-Do, it does not belong on the weekly list. For example, if a leader adds 'Should we open a secondary office next year?' that is a long-term strategic issue.

The facilitator must immediately move this item to the V/TO® Long-Term Issues List. This list is reviewed and prioritized during your Quarterly Planning Sessions, not during your weekly pulse.

By keeping a hard line between these two compartments, you free up your weekly ninety minutes to focus on tactical execution. Your weekly list should be lean, fast-moving, and focused on removing immediate roadblocks. If you find your team debating vision or strategy during a weekly meeting, you are out of alignment with your V/TO® and are wasting valuable execution time.